Editions

Manchester United v Stoke City: Carrick keen to maintain momentum

Michael Carrick believes Manchester United go into Tuesday's Premier League clash with Stoke City ready to continue a good run of results.

Share

Written ByTony Kelshaw

height="148">

Louis van Gaal's side maintained their position in the top four
with an emphatic 3-0 defeat of Hull City at Old Trafford on
Saturday.

That was United's third straight victory and the Dutch manager
hailed the performance as their most convincing of the season so
far.

Carrick echoed those thoughts and feels United are beginning to
settle into a rhythm, even though Angel di Maria looks set to be
missing after limping off early against Hull.

"It was a good performance and a good win," Carrick told MUTV.
"We controlled the game from the start and played some really good
football. Hopefully there will be more of the same on Tuesday."

"Our downfall this season is that we've had to change the team
too much and we haven't had a consistent run with this squad.

"Hopefully that will change now and it's nice to have a game so
quick so we can keep that momentum going.

"It was a good performance and win against Hull but it's behind
us now and our focus is on Tuesday."

United fans will have been particularly pleased to see Robin van
Persie silence his critics with a superb goal after he came under
fire for a lacklustre showing versus former club Arsenal.

"It was some strike," added Carrick. "It was only really half a
chance, but he's controlled it and smashed it into the top
corner.

"It's great when the boys up front are creating chances and
scoring goals. If we can do what we did on Saturday on a more
regular basis, we'll be a real threat."

Stoke must try to recover from suffering back-to-back defeats
against Burnley and Liverpool since returning from the
international break.

Mark Hughes will at least have taken some comfort from the
impressive performance of Bojan Krkic at Anfield, with the Spaniard
unlucky not to score with one particular effort which came crashing
back off the post.

"He was the best player on the pitch, there was no doubt about
that," said Hughes.

"He's up to speed now and getting to grips with everything. You
can see that he's stronger than he was at the beginning of the
season.

"He's always looking to be positive with his play and
technically he can receive the ball in tight areas, which is
important for us. He's getting better with every game now."

Steve Sidwell (knee) and his replacement Glenn Whelan (calf)
were both forced off with injuries at Anfield and appear unlikely
to feature for Stoke against United.

However, Phil Bardsley will hope to return at right-back after
missing the Liverpool game due to a sickness bug.